StephenC

That is awesome.

I like the wider version much more than the taller version. After complaining that mine was taking a while, it arrived today - but I have been told I have to wait before making it!

I'm still waiting on mine. Ordered it on the 1st and still "In Process" on the website (though it says shipped 7th when the full order is displayed). I'm not too worried as another of my orders from Oct 2010 still says "In Process" and I'm pretty sure I have all the other sets I have ordered! I'm just glad the shipping is now free as it used to cost $80 in postage for a set like this.

Looking at my photos I thought a few areas of the design needed slimming down and darkening. I would have swapped the 2x2x2 slopes (under the seat) to black, but didn't have any so tried dark bley instead.

Opps, I didn't realise. Perhaps a moderator might move this for me please? I agree - now the tank is more curved Same DNA!

V-LV-55F The 7291 was a bit Orange for my liking and the duel headlamps a bit 'Triumph'. Here is my rendition, and the inspiration:

Not so much 'unrepairable' as dismantled. I felt I had finished that project, had to tidy up the room I was using and having it broken seemed a good time to take the thing apart. I only have the photos to go by so it would be hit and miss as to whether I could rebuild anyway. Sorry.

Sorry, the model got knocked off a shelf and fell apart. No more modifications I'm afraid.

Thanks for the comments. No instructions, I'm afraid. I'm too lazy to do anything like that, it sounds like hard work. Yes there is a long Technic pin all the way through the wing struts. I put a 1x2 Technic block in the centre of the wings, one of the ones with a cross shaped hole. The cones have a cross shaped hole in them, as do the wheel hubs. They then attach through circular 2x2 plates and blocks to the side panels. It is not rigid but stronger than my original stack of blocks technique. I struggled to find a way of attaching the diagonal grey bars to the wings. There seemed to be only a few spots where the studs on headlight bricks lined up on roughly the right angle and were an appropriate distance apart. There is one in each corner and another about four bricks up from the horizontal grey line. Otherwise no point along that line matches a brick space along the rows of SNOT bricks. Alternate suggestions are welcome. I'm sure I read somewhere (possibly this forum) that the entry hatch for TIEs was on the back, not the top. I did try a dish on top at first but thought this gave a better contour to the sphere. Also the dish fell off really easily and annoyed me!

OK. It's done! Here are some pictures of the final version (for now): The wing: More detail: From behind, I did the engines orange to distinguish them from the red lasers at the front: From above: and below: I hope you like it. It didn't work out quite as robust as I had hoped. It stands up well enough but is not really 'swooshable'. My other disappoint,end are the grey bars on the wings. I could only find a few points to put headlight pieces to attach the 1xX plates that aligned, so each plate is on a single anchor and can swivel. Still, I am fairly happy with my first MOC.

Any idea where an Australian can get one of these for anything less than double the price of everybody else?

I think that is great, and so imaginative. Well done to him.

The new Millennium Falcon is about as iconic a vehicle as you can get from the OT. I know it is not the UCS set, but that is nigh on impossible to get for sensible money and I think the new set looks pretty good. It is fun to build, with some clever techniques (such as the panels around the sides) and is nice and solid. The Wampa's cave is a bit naff, but the snow speeder it comes with is pretty good, if you want a cheaper set. If you can wait, there are rumours of a new TIE Fighter, to go with your X-Wing!

I agree! Any recommendation of online places to buy & import?

OK, final BrickLink order placed (I think). Wing design finalised (are MOCs ever finalised?). You may have to wait a while though, as I've had to order from the States. My experience is that can mean a wait of up to two weeks.

Just wait, I'm quietly hopeful things will turn out well (for a first try at MOCing).

Thanks for the picture, that lets me be lazy and not waste time looking for a profile shot. You are right, it isn't a true hexagon, so the 75 degree slopes would probably work well. Only a few more boxes of LEGO to sort and I can start designing again!

Thank you. I'm having a pause while I sort my LEGO (it was too hard to find pieces randomly thrown into one of four large boxes) and await a couple of Bricklink orders to complete the cockpit and struts. I'll then start on the wings / panels / whatever they are supposed to be called. I'm still thinking 1x... bricks, like the Imperial Shuttle's wings. I just can't decide what black slopes I would need. Presumably the edges are 60 degrees, as the wings are hexagonal? The easiest slope to use would be the 75 degree slope, as it has an inverted counterpart for the bottom half of the wing. There is a 55 degree slope, but at 6x1x5 it is very big so won't give me as much flexibility in wing size and has no inverted version so I would have to reverse the orientation of the entire lower part of each wing somehow. Any thoughts or advice?

I agree. I wasn't collecting LEGO for the UCS Falcon, so missed out and am not willing to pay the current eBay prices. I think it looks better than either 7190 or 4504. Now I am collecting it was the glaringly obvious gap in my collection so I was grateful for the release. It looks good, my son enjoyed playing with it, there was a good selection of mini figures (though I thought Vader was an odd choice - but I already own two so others might appreciate him more) and it was a fun build. Thumbs up from me.

What a collection gratefulnat! My own collection is more modest. It is also all boxed at present as I simply have nowhere to display it. Instead I present my army of minifigs, if that is a fair description. I do have some PT / Clone Wars sets but can't justify buying every set so decided to restrict myself to OT sets (I might relent for very good PT sets). I know some of the Snowtroopers are missing their rifles, I will try and Bricklink them when I get pieces for my TIE Fighter MOC!

Some progress shots, again excuse the random coloured bits and ignore the wings (for now). The left strut is now a long Technic axil and various wheels etc mounted on it (the right strut is just a place holder, to stop it falling sideways!). The back is progressing enough to be shown. I think I prefer the left thruster (the trans red) but only have one of those bracket pieces for now. Next the wings. Hopefully the pictures are showing properly this time, I've just started using SmugMug so haven't quite got it worked out yet. Thanks for looking!

Hopefully that has fixed the picture link (thank you FallenAngel). Thanks for all the suggestions. I will have a rethink about my strategy for the wing struts, if only because my three year old wants to help and the current version doesn't survive him. I'm fairly pleased with the cockpit shape (except the back, which I haven't shown in the photo). In silhouette it looks pretty spherical from most angles, which was my aim.

I know there are a few pretty impressive TIE's out there, which being new at this I don't want to compete with. None the less I got inspired to attempt my own TIE after seeing the rumoured 2012 set, junking my TIE defender set (I realised I can't afford every LEGO Star Wars set so have decided to limit myself to OT sets, for now) and the fact I haven't yet got a TIE. This is very much a work in progress and may not progress that quickly, pending other commitments. You will have to excuse the 'off' colours as I'm not willing to part out my good Star Wars sets so have used random LEGO to at least test the concept. Ignore the wings, they are more there to give me a bit of context but I know they are the wrong shape and size (and that I ran out of plates!). Constructive criticism welcome. I'm particularly keen on hearing ideas of how to make the wing struts more stable. Currently they are built out of plain 2x2 blocks. I was thinking 2x2 circular blocks that would allow me to pass a Technic axil down the centre of them, for strength. I am also thinking about making the wings out of 1x.. bricks and wedges, rather than plates, any thoughts? The cockpit doesn't open and I'm not sure it is worth the effort to engineer it to do so. I will probably work on this a bit more, before going on Bricklink to get the right coloured pieces and fill any gaps. Completed build: OK. It's done! Here are some pictures of the final version (for now): The wing: More detail: From behind, I did the engines orange to distinguish them from the red lasers at the front: From above: and below:

I think bley refers to 'bluish grey', but is easier to type. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Thankyou. That satisfies my curiosity. I'm not enough of a Star Wars fan to recognize all the details and sources for the models. Mostly I just admire the clever techniques used to make the LEGO versions and then have a recognizable craft. Now I have to persuade my wife to let me buy the Super Star Destroyer, when it is released.